Chasing The Impractical (Brian Quinn Story)

Broken - Apollonia

The day after the broken window I called Jorma and asked to work from home. There was no way I could leave the place like this, especially on this side of town. Jorma was completely cool with it and just asked to make sure I had something for Wednesday's meeting.

After I had seen Bella off at the bus stop, I made myself some breakfast and waited for the inevitable call or message from Q. By 2pm and still no call, I decided to try and board up the window myself. In the closet there had been some plastic sheeting left over by the last tenant, so I grabbed my hammer and nail from the tool box and fixed the sheet in place.

"Jesus" I groaned to myself.

At 5pm I started making dinner for Bella with the little food I had left from the shopping q had done. I still had not heard from him by 8pm when I put Bella to sleep. At 10pm I was raging mad and sent Zoe a message.

Your brother and his stupid friends broke my window. Kick him next time you see him. Xx

A few minutes later she text back.

Seriously, how? Why? Xx

They threw an apple at my window. Xx

I'll kick them, but first I'll make sure they get over there tomorrow and fix it. Xx

"Good luck with that" I scoffed to myself as I sent Jorma a message, asking to work from home again tomorrow.

The next morning after my usual routine with Bella, I was sat on the couch writing when my buzzer went.

"Hello?" I called through the phone.

"It's Q and Sal, can you let us in" Q replied.

I hit the buzzer to unlock the building door and then opened my door and waited for the two idiots.

"Sal... Q" I spoke through gritted teeth.

"We've come to fix the window" Sal shrugged and lifted the piece of plywood.

"Have you called your landlord?" Q asked.

"Not yet".

"Well give him a call, tell him it was our fault and find out how much it is to fix it. We'll pay for the damage" Q spoke as he walked over window and pulled down the plastic sheeting.

I just shrugged and sat back down on the couch and watched as they started sizing up the shape of the window. Just as Q was about to cut the wood, the electric went off in the apartment with a loud click.

"Fucking hell" I groaned and walked over to the power box to find the credit at $0.

"When do you get paid?" Q asked softly as he walked up behind me.

"Friday" I sighed.

Q reached across me and took the pay card from the slot.

"I'll be back in a min Sal" he called out.

"Brian wait" I groaned and grabbed his arm as he stood by the front door.

"What else are you going to do. Sit the the darkness till Friday?"

I sighed again and let go of him as he smiled softly before leaving.

A few minutes later Q came back and put the card back in the power box. The lights came back on instantly.

"I'm paying you back for all of this" I groaned as Q walked past me and back to the window.

Half hour later the window was all boarded up and my landlord was informed. He was going to come across on Saturday morning with a window fitter and get a cost for me.

"I am sorry" Q sighed as he cleaned up the mess from the wood cutting.

"I'm over it" I shrugged whilst Sal walked out to pack the things back in the car.

"You doing okay for food and stuff?"

"Fine" I lied.

Q didn't believe me though and walked into the kitchen. Opening the cupboards and fridge with a sigh each time.

"You lied again"

"I never lied before. I never told you my last name, hell you never asked. And just because i got back with Colin doesn't make me a liar. It's not like you were answering any of my calls or texts whilst away" I shot back with a twinge of anger.

I could hear Q curse under his breath as he moved back into the living room and flopped down into the couch. Taking a deep breath in, I tried to call my anger down before following and sitting down next him.

"I don't want to argue or fall out here Brian. I wish I could of told you my last name from the beginning. I wish I could tell you everything, but I can't. We may have the Mangano name, but im not a bad person. Fuck, you must know who my brother was, he wasn't some mafia made man, so why does that make me a bad person" I sighed.

"You brother... I can't believe your brother was Lucca Mangano. Me and my pops use to watch him race every weekend when I was younger. My dad was a huge formula one and Ferrari fan. I don't get it though, if your the younger sister to Lucca, how are you so..."

"Poor?" I laughed. "Like I said, I can't go in to it. I'm not lying to you, I just can't talk about it".

"Alright, I shouldn't of come at you like I did about it. To be honest, I think was more mad about"

"Colin?" I inturpted him again.

"Quit finishing my sentences. And yes... Colin" he smiled, finally.

"He apologised and I accepted it. Brian your my friend, you gotta accept my choices as well, oh and be there when it all inevitably goes tits up" I laughed

"Yeah, alright" he smiled again and nudged me with his shoulder.

We both fell silent again for a moment until I suddenly burst out laughing. "I can't believe you got drunk and threw an apple at my window. You physio"

"I was very drunk" he laughed. "Come on, let's go food shopping. I'll drop Sal off on the way, and we can pick Bella up when we're done. Oh and then you can cook me dinner".

"Oh can I now" I giggled as he pulled me off the couch.